2013 Top Advisor Rankings: Minnesota

Ranked #1: John Schutz ♦ For Schutz, 45, advising clients has become a round-the-clock job. He prides himself and his team on being there to solve clients' problems and assuage anxieties, even when that means responding to 2 a.m. e-mails. He says technology and the 24-hour news cycle have changed clients' communication needs, and it's his team's job to adapt. "Our clients used to think in weeks and days," he says. "Today, it's not even hours--they think in minutes." Late last year, that meant forgoing vacation days to push through last-minute gifts in anticipation of the lifetime gift-tax exemption falling to $1 million from $5 million. At other times, it has meant dropping weekend plans to help clients with a spontaneous real-estate purchase they've found while traveling. To keep that level of service, he has vowed to never take on more than 200 clients. The strategy works--about 90% of his team's prospective clients are referrals from current clients. --ELIZABETH ODY